Artificial leg.



No. 942,699. v PAIIINTED JAN. 29, 1997.

I. I. AIGAII.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

APPLICATION FILED SBPTJZ. 1906.

UNITE If STATES PATENT ornron.

JOHN T. APGAR, NEW YORK, N. Y.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 29, 1907.

Application filed September 8, 1906. Serial No. 333,768.

. zen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough oiManhattan, county and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Artificial Legs, of which the following is aclear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates toarticial legs, and has for its object toprovide a simple, cheap, and ellicient adjusting means by which thetension or friction of the upper end of' the socket member of theartiiicial leg may be regulated in order to '[irmly hold the stump oi aleg therein. As these sockets are usually made oi leather, climaticchanges or the moisture of the body causes the leather to swell orotherwise atleet the same, and my invention is intended to adjust thesocket member to suit the conditions.

To these and other ends, which will hereinafter appear, my inventioncomprises the novel features of improvement and combination andarrangement of parts, which I will new proceed to describe and finallyclaim, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming parthereof, wherein Figure 1 illustrates a perspective rear view of aportion of a leg or a stump to which the socket member of an artiiicialleg is applied having my improved adjusting device attached. Fig. 2 is across-sectional plan view thereof, the section being taken on a line a ain Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevation of the adjustable regionof the socket member and showing a modified form ol adjusting means inwhich a right and left hand threaded screw is used. Fig. 4 is across-sectional plan view thereof, the section being taken ona line l) bin Fig. 3 g and Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a modii'iedform oi' adjusting means in which a swivel-screw and wing-nut are used.

Like reference characters are intended to indicate corresponding partsin the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 4 indicates theupper or socket member of an artilicial leg, while 5 indicates aleg-stump held thereby. As it is impracticable to rporetell therequisite amount of tension required to hold the stump -lirmly withinthe socket member, it is necessary to provide an adjustable device bywhich the said tension can be regulated to suit conditions. Forinstance, if the weather be damp the leather will swell, which mayalsohappen by reason of moisture emanating from the leg-stump,

thus causing the socket member to loosen, in.

which case the upper end of the socket member embodying my improvementcan readily be tightened, and, on the other hand, when the leather driesout it can easily be loosened, as may be desired. In order to elect suchadjustability, the rear or other portion of the socket member isvertically slotted, as at 6, Fig. l, and at about the corners 7 and 8 Ipreferably rivet angle-brackets 9 and 10 and through the members 11 and`12 thereof I' pass a threaded adjusting-screw 13. rBy reterring to Fig.2 it will be seen that the said screw engages a threaded opening in the.

member 11 of thebracket 9, but passes freely through the member 12 ofthe bracket 10. The screw 13 is provided with a slotted head 14, intowhich a screw-driver or other means can be inserted in order to turn thescrew 13, whereby the corners 7 and 8 of the socket member can be drawntogether or loosened for the purposes hereinbelore mentioned.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the openings in the members11 and 12 of the brackets 9 and 10 are threaded oppositely or right andleft handed. To doubly secure the said brackets and to increase theirresistance to lateral displacement, I provide upon each bracket a prongor pointed liange 15, which can be embedded in the material, as shown.In order to draw the corners 7 and 8 together or force them apart, aright and left hand threaded adjusting-screw 16 is provided, the samecarrying a thumb-wheel 17. It will be understood that the said screwengages the correspondingly-threaded openings of the said brackets 9 and10. By turning the wheel 17 the said socket member can be adjusted atwill. The presence of the thumb-wheel 17 obviates the necessity of-employing a screw-driver for rotating the screw.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 5 ysomewhat different bracketsare used, the bracket 18being provided with a aw 19, into which the eye19 of an adjusting-screw 20 is loosely fitted and held by a pin 21, theother bracket 21 being slotted, as at 22. The screw 20 is threaded, asshown, and carries a wingenut 23. By manipulating the said wing-nut thecorners 7 and 8 can be drawn together or allowed to spring away fromeach other in obvious manner. When it is desired to entirely withdrawthe socket IOO IIO

member from the leg-stump, the screw 2O can be swung outwardly and awayfrom the bracket 21 By having the regulating or adjusting deviceattached to the socket member any chances of loss or neglect in applyingare 0bviated, and by my improved construction less weight is added tothe leg than if the said adjusting device was a band or the like.

` Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. An artiiicial leg having a vertical slot at the upper end of thesocket member, said socket member being provided with brackets adjacentto said slot, one ot said brackets having an adjust-ing device pivotallyconnected thereto, the other of said brackets being adapted to engagesaid adjusting device and means carried by said adjusting device wherebythe tension of said socket member can be adjusted.

2. A n artificial leg having a vertical slot at the upper end of thesocket member, said socket member being provided with brackets adjacentto said slot, an adj listing-screw pivotally connected to one of thesaid brackets, the other of said brackets being adapted to engage saidadjusting-screw, and a nut carried by said adj usting-screw adapted toregulate the tension ot said socket member.

3. A n artiiicial leg having avertical slot at the upper end of thesocket member, said socket member being provided with brackets adjacentto said slot, an adj Listing-screw pivotally connected to one of thesaid brackets, the other of said brackets being provided with a slotadapted to receive the said adj usting-screw, said adjusting-screw beingprovided with a nut adapted to regulate the tension of said socketmember.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 6th day of September, 1906.

JOHN T, APGAR.

Witnesses:

EDWARD JARvrs, LILLIAN HARRIS.

